During the operation of carton or case sealing machines, numerous cartons or cases will be sealed by means of one or more tape roll dispensing cartridge assemblies which not only dispense the carton or case sealing tapes and apply the same to the carton or case, but in addition, comprise knife blade assemblies for cutting or severing the sealing tape at predetermined times during the carton or case sealing operational cycle so as to conclude the carton or case sealing operation. It can therefore be appreciated that after numerous cartons or cases have in fact been sealed, various component parts of the tape roll dispensing cartridge assemblies, such as, for example, the knife blades or cutting members, will begin to wear and will accordingly need to be replaced. Conventionally, such replacement procedures have been performed by maintenance personnel in view of the fact that special tools have been required in order to remove the knife blade assemblies of the tape roll dispensing cartridge assemblies from the remaining structural components of the tape roll dispensing cartridge assemblies, and that the same tools would then be required to exchange or replace the worn knife blade assemblies with new knife blade assemblies. Accordingly, when, for example, the knife blade assemblies need to be replaced, not only is it expensive to employ such maintenance personnel, but just as importantly, such procedures are inordinately time-consuming in that it usually takes a considerable amount of time for the maintenance personnel to arrive and replace the knife blade assemblies, during which time the carton or case sealing production line needs to be stopped and effectively shut down. This obviously results in a loss of valuable production or carton or case flow-through time which adds to the operative expenses of the overall carton or case sealing manufacturing operations.
A need therefore exists in the art for a new and improved knife blade assembly for use in conjunction with a tape roll dispensing cartridge assembly of a carton or case sealing machine wherein the knife blade or cutting member can be quickly replaced or exchanged by means of operator personnel, in lieu of maintenance personnel, as a result of simple manual manipulations of particular structural components of the knife blade assembly without the need for any special tools.